Carlos de Menezes Júnior (born 25 April 1998), commonly known as Cacá, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

, on loan from

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vortis ...

Club career

Born in Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais, Cacá arrived at the youth setup of Cruzeiro in June 2014. Progressing through the youth ranks, he went on to captain the under-20 side in their

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

under-20 triumph in 2018. Promoted to the first team in March 2018, Cacá made his professional – and Série A debut on 14 October, playing the whole 90 minutes of a 2–0 away defeat against

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

. Three days later, he was an unused substitute in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil Finals, with his side defeating

by 2–1. Initially a backup to Dedé and

Léo Léo is a proper noun in French, meaning lion". Its etymological root lies in the Latin word Leo. Léo is used as a diminutive or variant of the names Léon, Léonard, Léonardon, Leonardo, Léonid, ''Léonor'', '' Léonore'', ''Eléonore'' ...

during the

2019 Campeonato Mineiro The 2019 Campeonato Mineiro was the 105th season of Mineiro's top professional football league. The competition began on January 19 and ended on April 3. Cruzeiro are the defending champions, having won their 37th title by defeating Atlético Mi ...

, Cacá started to feature more regularly during the league. He scored his first senior goal on 31 October of that year, netting the opener in a 2–0 away success over

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

, and finished the campaign with 20 league appearances as his side suffered a first-ever relegation. On 6 January 2020, Cacá renewed his contract with Cruzeiro until December 2022. On February 14, 2021, Cacá signed with

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

side

. On 21 July 2023, Cacá moved on loan to

Athletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

. On 7 March 2024, Cacá was loaned to

until the end of the season with an option to buy.

Career statistics

Honours

Cruzeiro *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caca 1998 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players J1 League players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Tokushima Vortis players Club Athletico Paranaense players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players People from Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais